SO much for Australia winning global respect for imposing a carbon tax
on its resentful citizens.

At the climate change confab in Durban last week, Australian delegates
reportedly tried to make a statement about our world-leading tax and
were rejected. They had to wait until day two.

The world has moved on and Australia sits like a shag on a rock,
risking $100 billion on a gesture hardly anyone noticed.

As Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt (both above), Bono (below) and Al Gore
(right) jet towards Durban to mingle with 15,000 climate delegates,
the truth is that the world financial crisis has spoiled their party.

Newly prudent nations, including the world's biggest greenhouse gas
emitters, have no intention of following the kamikaze lead of
Australia, which produces just 1 per cent of global emissions.